Dyeing silk with ties!

After reading an article in Quilting Arts about Tie Transfer Dyeing I just had to try it. The article was written by Kathy Barinholtz and the tecnique is brilliant. I have wiped the thrift store out of all their silk ties and used them to transfer their color and pattern onto silk. You lay the ties on the silk up to the half way point, fold the silk over the ties, roll it all up in muslin and tie it off about every inch. All of this goes into a big ole pot of boiling water that has 3 Tbs of white vinegar in it. i put a plate on top of it all so the cloth is completely under the water. After 15 minutes I took it out and let it cool off in the sink. Then the unveiling!! I clipped the ties and unrolled the muslin to get to the fabulously dyed silk. No two pieces will ever be alike and it is always a surprise when you unroll it. I took all the silk out to the clothes line to dry then ironed it to heat set. This is so very addicting!